The Truth about Content
Learning from the Past in order to
Succeed in the Future
Joe Gollner
jgollner@stilo.com / www.stilo.com
Vice President Enterprise Solutions
Stilo International

Mommy, where do airplanes come from?
2
1 3 Most
common
answer
but
4 wrong!

The Real Content Lifecycle behind Airplanes
A Library of Engineering Standards is the starting point
Each step in the process
Reuses & references this source documentation
Introduces new content & initiates changes in preceding content

The Real Answer Looks More Like This
4
2
3
1 5
6 6

The Complex Content Interrelationships
Engineering Standards
Provide content controls, inputs & references for the design process
Become an integral part of all subsequent content
Derive their authority from their status as documents

Changing the Way We Think About Content
An Integrated View of Content
Controls
Controls
Sources (Inputs)
Outputs
References (Mechanisms)
Sources Outputs
Content Object
Notable Considerations
References include revisions
Controls govern validation
Outputs cover the full spectrum References

The Assembly before the Assembly

The Nature of Content Services
Content Services
break down into:
Document Services
Design Document
Guidelines Services Delivery of formatted
documents that
facilitate business
transactions
Process Data
Data Services
Specifications Services
Provide highly precise
inputs to applications
Logic Services
Part Logic
Standards Services
Provide highly precise
sequencing guidance
to people, processes &
applications

The Four Dimensions of Content
Long TEMPORAL REPRESENTATIONAL Complex
Content in the
world exists
over time, takes
on specific
Short Simple
formats, is
related to other
content, and is Few Informal
used to execute
business of
varying degrees
of formality
Many RELATIONAL TRANSACTIONAL Formal

Simple Documents: Email
Long TEMPORAL REPRESENTATIONAL Complex
Emails makes
up a huge
percentage of
created & stored
content as email
is how people Short Simple
communicate
information
Few Informal
quickly & in
specific contexts. Email
A favourite target
during legal
e-Discovery…
Many RELATIONAL TRANSACTIONAL Formal

Formal Documents: EDI Messages
Long TEMPORAL REPRESENTATIONAL Complex
EDI messages
exhibit more
structure & EDI Message
significantly more
Short Simple
formality then
emails but they
are similar acts Few Informal
of context-specific
communication
Many RELATIONAL TRANSACTIONAL Formal

The Most Common: Business Documents
Long TEMPORAL REPRESENTATIONAL Complex
These are the
documents we Business
create everyday. Document
The memos,
presentations, Short Simple
spreadsheets,
reports, plans,
proposals… Few Informal
These have more
complexity &
value than is
usually thought.
Many RELATIONAL TRANSACTIONAL Formal

Complex Documents: Equipment Manuals
Long TEMPORAL REPRESENTATIONAL Complex
Aircraft Manual
Technical
documentation
exhibits notable
depth in all four
Short Simple
dimensions.
This explains Few Informal
why we are
talking about
DITA & content
technologies.
Many RELATIONAL TRANSACTIONAL Formal

Implications of this Dimensional Perspective
Long TEMPORAL REPRESENTATIONAL Complex
Aircraft Manual
Although there
Business
are differences,
Document
the four
EDI Message
documents
examples
Short Simple
illustrate that all
content shares
these four Few Informal
dimensions & in
Email
each example we
can assess how
well our tools
reflect this
fact
Many RELATIONAL TRANSACTIONAL Formal

Actor
Content (Owner)
Models Process
Collect Relate
(Enrich)
Actor Actor
Must reflect the (Author) (Designer)
three critical
Process Content Process
entities: (Acquire) Object (Deliver)
- Objects
- Processes Convert Refactor Resolve Compile
- Actors Validate Render
Should enable
a better Content
Identification
understanding Object
of all three Content
Object
entities in Content
Content
parallel Object
Title Shortdesc Metadata
A variation on Para List Table Special
Link
the Object Process
Media
Methodology Text
XRef Include

The Context of Content
Content is created by
& the responsibility of
people & it is subject to
a set of content processes
- Acquire
- Enrich
- Deliver
Content modeling
is most commonly
limited by the failure
to understand the
participating entities
fully:
- Objects
- Processes
- Actors

The Composition of Content
The physical &
logical composition
of content falls into
a familiar high-level
pattern

The True Nature of Content
Content is the persistent physical form of human communication.
It is highly complex because it covers everything from how we
represent experience (data), through how we communicate with
others (information), to how we record and evolve our
understanding of the world (knowledge).

The Real Integration Challenge

Content Solutions

Business Applications
The primary challenge
in designing, building &
maintaining business
applications is
sustaining the
connection to the
knowledge
resources
that should
govern their
operation

Knowledge Management
The primary challenge
that has faced KM is
that many strategies
have been unable
to effectively
engage
technology
to assist
in the
creation,
management,
& exploitation
of knowledge

Content Management
The primary challenge
confronting the
content management
market is the poor
business return
typically provided by
CMS deployments
that exhibit
high costs,
major impacts
& benefits that
often do not
address critical
business drivers

The Goal: Sustainable Evolution of Performance